We allow a part of our country - Northern Ireland - to deny women rights that the rest of our country hold (abortion).

We shy away from interfering with religious practices such as Shariah which are plainly against the values of our society as a whole.

Today I hear that a London coroner is being challenged in the High Court for refusing to prioritise Jewish burials over any other burial.

quote:A Jewish burial service has called for a senior London coroner to be removed after accusing her of causing “anguish and trauma” by bureaucratic delays in a dispute over religious rules for the dead.

The service has made an official complaint against Mary Hassell, senior coroner for inner north London, saying “many of her imposed rules, bureaucracy, inflexibility and unnecessary delays offend traditional and/or religious practices”.

The move came after Hassell said “no death will be prioritised in any way over any other because of the religion of the deceased or family”. She has also suggested members of her staff have been “bullied or intimidated” by Jewish community representatives.

Religions exist within an overall rule of law which seeks to be fair to all. Religions that prefer their own rules to society's and indeed believe them to be above the secular law are damaging to society as a whole. We've seen this in Christian belief systems around the world where the institutions valued their own 'law' to secular law by covering up child abuse almost universally.

I think we're making progress - recent law changes allowing gay marriage are an example - but it seems painfully slow.